Is China’s Fabled “String of Pearls” Becoming a Reality?

 

Last month, Chinese Admiral Yin Zhuo, while talking about Chinese anti-pirate operations in the Middle East, made the comment that a permanent naval base in the region would be good for Chinese operations.  To many it is a sign that China is now getting ready to establish its long-rumored-to-exist  “string of pearls” or military bases around the Indian Ocean to secure its sealanes and to intimidate and monitor India.  

 The Times Now (Indian media) declared that “the Chinese dragon now is aiming to spread itself further around India. In the latest moves by Beijing the Red Army is looking to build a base in Pakistan. China has signaled it wants to go the US way and set up military bases in overseas locations including Pakistan.”   

Rumors and articles have appeared in the world press for at least a decade exposing the clandestine efforts of the Chinese government to implement its “string of pearls” strategy.  Articles regarding the generous Chinese funding (with ulterior motives) for the construction of ports and secret bases in southern Asian countries can be found all over the net and are the subject of many forums.  But there are some, including high ranking Indian officials who dismissed these ulterior Chinese motives.  One such official is India’s former Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, who, in October, scoffed at the notion that China had developed naval bases in the Indian Ocean. 

“There are no Chinese bases in the Indian Ocean today, despite talk of the ‘string of pearls, which by the way is a pretty ineffective murder weapon as any ‘clue’ aficionado will tell you,” he declared.  He did, however, acknowledge that there was increased activity by the Chinese in some of these alleged pearls and added, “The question is whether and to what extent this improved access and infrastructure will translate into basing arrangements and political influence in future.” He also noted China was guided by the need to protect its vital “energy security interests,” much like India and Japan.   Not everyone agrees with him.

Admiral Zhou’s comments last month are seen by many as a sign of China’s growing influence and a desire to protect its own borders and strategic interests.  Strategic affairs analyst for TimesNow, Mahroof Raza, elaborated: “I think China is now becoming more and more agressive with its posturing in this part of the world. Over the years it has been relatively more discreet; Its activites in Burma, its building of a port in Pakistan and also port-related activities and road building in Sri Lanka has given it three major toe holds to surround India apart from its naval activity in the oceans around India.  But I think what China is now looking to do is bottle India down completely to dealing with threats within South Asia and this new major presence which China is wanting to build up in Pakistan is not entirely India centric. You must also remember that China is obviously very concerned about any spillover effects of Pakistan’s militants and the Taliban insurgencies into China’s muslim regions which is north of Kashmir in Xinjiang. But more importantly, China wants to be a regional player and one way it can be so is to formally announce the establishment of a military base in the region and therefore increase its arc of influence beyond just East Asia – where China upto now has been miltarily involved in putting pressure on Taiwan, South Korea through North Korea and also browbeating Japan.”

Apparently there is some concern in China as to the benefits and reasons to establish overseas bases.

Below are some of the pearls:

PAKISTAN

The pearl Gwadar:  In 2001 China supposedly began looking at building a “Deep Sea Port” at Gwadar, which has been described as “an obscure fishing village in the western Pakistani province of Baluchistan which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is nautically bounded by the Persian Gulf in the west and the Gulf of Oman in the southwest.  Apparently China has played a key role in funding and helping to build the port which went into operation in 2008.  According to Tarique Niaza in 2005:

“The port, by design or by default, also provides China a strategic foothold in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, although to the alarm of India and the unease of the U.S. sitting opposite the Strait of Hurmoz, through which 80% of the world’s energy exports flow, the Gwadar port will enable China to monitor its energy shipments from the Persian Gulf, and offer it, in the case of any hostile interruption in such shipments, a safer alternative passage for its energy imports from Central Asia. Its presence on the Indian Ocean will further increase its strategic influence with major South Asian nations, particularly Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, which would prompt the Indians in turn to re-strengthen their Navy.”

MALDIVES

In the early 2000s there was speculation that the small island country of Maldives had or would soon (secretly, of course) grant the Chinese a base on the island of Marao.  According to this Asia Times article:

 ”That’s why reports of growing ties with China are of great concern to New Delhi. The visit of then Chinese premier Zhu Rongji to Male in 2001 immediately prompted rumors that the Chinese were seeking a base on one of the atolls. According to these reports, the Chinese managed to persuade the Maldivian government to grant them a base on Marao, one of the largest islands of the archipelago, and that Pakistan had played an important role in pushing the deal through. The base was to become operational in 2010.   The deal appeared to have run into trouble in 2002, but reports of renewed maritime cooperation on the part of China and Maldives surfaced again in 2004. Both the Maldivian and Chinese governments denied the reports and have since maintained that the deepsea surveys that were carried out were for environmental protection, not for military purposes. ”

MYANMAR

The Coco Islands (Great and Small) have also been indicated as one of China’s Pearls since at least 1992.  According to The Irrawaddy, the story originated in an article publised by  Kyodo News Agency on September 17, 1992 that alleged Myanmar had agreed to let China operate a maritime reconnaissance and electronic intelligence station on the Great Coco Island which was described as “the most important Chinese electronic intelligence installation in Burma.” China was also, allegedly, building a base on Small Coco Island as well as other nearby islands – much to the displeasure of India.  In 2006, India convinced the Myanmar government to allow Indian representatives to visit the island where they found nothing significant:  the radar, bought second-hand from a ship, wasn’t even working.  But the rumors of the site continues here and  a google picture of the alleged station is given here.  Here is another one that shows and airfield – but note the military areas can not be brought in to sharp detail.

SRI LANKA

There has been concern that the port of Hambantota, being built by the Chinese, might be used as a Chinese naval base.  The Sri Lanka Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rohitha Bogollogama, was asked in October 2009 if he thought the port would ever be used by the Chinese as a naval facility and had this to say:

“They have not asked,” Bogollogama said. “There are no such indications that have come our way. Why should we go by fiction and hypothesis on matters of importance? If they wanted to ask, they would have by now.”  He was then asked if there could be a defense relationship with China to which he replied: “Not really. Because I see India is our immediate neighbour and our close friend. That also is a unique relationship. India has been very supportive of our efforts for seeking sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. We are quite pleased with the current defence make up of Sri Lanka.”

But some question just how resolved the Sri Lankan government might be. 

BANGLADESH

China has expressed interests (apparently not officially) of possibly obtaining bases and naval ports in Bangladesh.  Considering their close relationship which has been described as a “time-tested, all-weather friendship,” and the fact that China is one of Bangladesh’s largest and most important weapon supplier, it is not inconceivable that the Chinese may eventually be granted one.  According to the Jamestown Foundation, the most likely naval base would be  Chittagong.  The Bangladesh government could approach China to help develop it, ostensibly for commercial purposes, but also allow the Chinese to use it for staging Chinese naval assets.  Apparently the Chinese and South Koreans are already developing the port.

CAMBODIA

Cambodia is also a potential pearl.  According to this article (ignore the date – it is wrong): 

“The PRC has provided funding to refurbish docking facilities at Ream, and Chinese companies have upgraded the nearby port of Sihanoukville (previously called Kompong Som). In the future, Chinese naval ships may become frequent visitors to Ream and Sihanoukville. Access to these ports offers the PRC two potential strategic advantages. First, a visiting Chinese naval flotilla could be used to put pressure on Hanoi during times of heightened Sino-Vietnamese tensions. Second, some observers have speculated that China has adopted a ‘string of pearls’ strategy aimed at securing vulnerable sea lanes of communication and protecting seaborne energy supplies in particular. This strategy involves gaining naval access to ports located in countries friendly to the PRC. Ream or Sihanoukville might be one such ‘pearl.’”

CHINA: Hainan Island

Although it is not a Chinese military installation on foreign soil I thought I would include it as well.  ROKDROP blogged (with picture) about this new Chinese submarine naval base on Hainan Island last year.